Mirrors for users in Russia
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Hi! Users from Russia currently have unstable access to UBports resources, which makes installation and downloads difficult. Could you please suggest any current mirrors for UBports Installer, Ubuntu Touch images, and related files?
If official links are unavailable, alternative download sources or mirroring instructions would be especially helpful. Also curious if the community supports mirroring UBports artifacts, like some other Ubuntu repositories do.
Привет! У пользователей из России сейчас нестабильно работает доступ к ресурсам UBports, из-за чего установка и скачивание могут быть затруднены. Подскажите, пожалуйста, есть ли актуальные зеркала для UBports Installer, образов Ubuntu Touch и сопутствующих файлов?
Если официальные ссылки недоступны, особенно полезны были бы альтернативные источники загрузки или инструкции по зеркалированию. Также интересно, поддерживает ли сообщество зеркала для UBports-артефактов, как это бывает у некоторых других Ubuntu-репозиториев.
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@sysadmin
Doesn't this could be achieved with a VPN ? -
@Keneda
Anyway, VPNs can also get blocked (we already see this happening with some services). So what should we do in that case? Constantly look for new workarounds every time we need to access the UBports site, download the Installer, system images, or update applications from OpenStore? -
While this is peripheral to your concern, note that (IIRC) the OpenStore client that runs on UT phones has a provision to use an alternate source by setting an environment variable (I think it is not done specifically for mirrors, it's to test the new store site version)
To get back to your problem, since your post has no substantive answer for 7 days, I'd say that you could raise this issue in the next Q&A since involved people are most near to the UT organization and the issue of mirrors is legit IMO.
Mirroring the packages repos by itself should not be a real problem only an organizational issue - they are public after all - but getting a formal approbation is considered a thing to do. Mirroring the openstore I don't know, I don't think it's accessible by FTP or something like that. Maybe it could be arranged, try to ask in the Q&A.
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@gpatel-fr
Thank you very much for the detailed reply and advice!
I will definitely raise this topic at the Q&A this Saturday — I'll talk about the unstable access from Russia to system-image.ubports.com, cdimage.ubports.com and the Installer, and ask about the possibility of official or community mirrors.
If you or anyone else has any additional thoughts on this before Saturday, I’d be glad to read them. -
@sysadmin is changing dns improve things ?
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@domubpkm
No, changing DNS unfortunately does not help at all.
The problem is not at the DNS level — it's deeper (routing, Cloudflare, or regional filtering). Only a VPN actually fixes access to UBports resources.
On a PC or laptop it's easy to use any VPN (WireGuard, OpenVPN, Amnezia, etc.).
But on Ubuntu Touch there is currently no reliable working VPN client.
For example, Amnezia works perfectly on my Android phone.
On Ubuntu Touch I’ve already ported a WireGuard fork (it was my first test application when I was learning how to develop for UT). Now I’m finishing it because I need it for my corporate work VPN.
If anyone knows of any working VPN solution on Ubuntu Touch right now, please share — it would help a lot of people. -
@sysadmin You could route wifi on the UT device through phone (ahem, Android or Apple) running a VPN as a workround. I know it will be difficult in Russia at the moment, those in charge may even block mirrors, official or community to get you using their apps...
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@MrT10001
You do realize that these are just workarounds, right?
We really want it to simply work without any VPNs, proxies, tethering or other complicated schemes. -
Patches that implement repository switching mechanism for system updates have been suggested a few months ago but gained no attention. Same with mirror hosting proposals.
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@sysadmin I know, but we all know the situation is complicated at the moment. I hope it gets better for all in the future. Work around have to do...
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Patches that implement repository switching mechanism for system updates have been suggested a few months ago but gained no attention. Same with mirror hosting proposals.
strictly speaking no patch is really necessary to switch repos, since none of the systems involved (ubport.com, gitlab.com, github.com) has dnssec enabled, so if the device is tricked into following a different server, it will work just as well. By definition if the server don't use dnssec, there is no way for the client to test it.
Lying DNS servers are evil only if the users don't know. Many Linux users already use fully knowingly lying DNS servers (PiHole for example)
Concretly, the lying DNS server could be setup at local Wifi level by each user wanting to use a mirror.
So the only hard requirement is an agreement for mirroring since this consumes bandwidth, and possibly some Api for the store (not sure about that).
Where are the mirror hosting proposals you are mentioning ? I follow this forum since nov 2025 and I don't recall having seen something like it.
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